tuscan braised beans 

Friday, January 23, 2009 - Posted by urban vegan at 11:40 AM
Here's another one from the upcoming cookbook. Whether you’re a harrowed stay-at-home mom or Wall St. broker with zero cooking skills, you’ll find yourself whipping up these tasty beans often. They take only about 5 minutes of hands-on time. Pack some in a container for lunch with an extra drizzle of good extra-virgin olive oil and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast. Enjoy a salad or a piece of fruit afterwards, and you’ll have eaten much better than you would have at the food court.

Foster Kitty Update

Buttons is finally thinking outside the box. I disassembled the crate yesterday, so she is now free to roam the apartment. Currently, she only ventures out to snoop at night. Progress is definitely slow, but she's 100% better than when she was staying in the bathroom. I had to laugh the other day when she kicked Pablo off the top of their little green tower– she has some feist in her after all. Here, Buttons and Pablo make nice and share the tower [She's inside]. Get your dibs in quick if you're interested in adopting this sweetie!


Here's Pablo, mesmerized by last week's snow fall. [For some reason, Bossa Nova never took to sitting on the windowsill.]

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political biscotti and the latest on buttons 

Thursday, January 15, 2009 - Posted by urban vegan at 8:04 AM
Political Biscotti from "The Urban Vegan" 250 Street-Smart, Animal-Free Recipes"

When it comes to carob and chocolate, people tend to be very “either/or.” People tend to always consider these ingredients separately, as two distinctive flavors that were never meant to come together – sort of like Palestine and Israel. But the fact is that the sweet bitterness of dark chocolate and the earthy mustiness of carob are inherently complementary, as evidenced by these perfectly balanced biscotti. The dates act as a sort of sticky-sweet peacemaker, a culinary UN if you will.


Here they are, shaped into "logs" after the first round of baking...


Here, they're sliced into biscotti before second round of baking. Incidentally, I resisted buying silpat mats for ages, but now I can't live without them. Not only do they prevent cookies from sticking; these superior non-stick surfaces are perfect for rolling out dough and making pasta. Cleanup? Just a quick rinse.

And now for our regularly scheduled episode of
"As the Fur Turns"

Buttons is adjusting, slowly but surely. Last week, I decided to stop handling her so much. It was the right choice; she's less nervous and no longer buries her head in the cushion when I pet her. Now, she visibly enjoys all the head scratching and even "instructs" me as to where I should massage. As you can see, she and Pablo have become fast friends. Perhaps they recognize each other from the gutter?


Today is the first day I felt comfortable enough to open the cage door and see if Buttons wants to venture out for a bit. Pablo immediately jumped right into the crate and started to groom her, as if to say "Clean yourself up, girl, and let's play, already!" So far, she hasn't budged.


Poor Bossa Nova is not so smitten. In fact, she's a bit in denial, as you can see here. She still hisses at Buttons, but then again, she hisses at everyone, so I'm not terribly alarmed. On the whole, she's been oddly level about Buttons. I'm giving her extra love – and extra treats whenever she goes near Buttons.



With snow in the forecast tonight and the wind chill dipping to -4 degrees Fahrenheit in Philadelphia, both Buttons and I can rest a little easier. She's beginning to realize that loft life is not too shabby. I still plan on finding her a good permanent home once she adapts and sheds some of her shyness (still a few months away). Interested? Put your dibs in now!

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go dairy free! :: a book review 

Friday, January 09, 2009 - Posted by urban vegan at 11:37 AM
Not long ago, I recall browsing in bookstores for vegetarian cookbooks and being content to find one entire shelf of them. These days, at least in my local bookstores, it's more like 6 or 7 shelves lined with vegan and vegetarian cookbooks. Supply is finally matching the demand, and customers have more choices than ever.

You're not made of money. How do you chose a cookbook? To use a very non-vegan metaphor, the cream always rises to the top. In the case of Go Dairy Free: The Guide and Cookbook for Milk Allergies, Lactose Intolerance, and Casein-Free Living by Alisa Marie Fleming, the cream happens to be non-dairy.

Alisa's expansive new book is part field guide and part cookbook. She begins by relaying the story of her own dairy allergy and the journey she embarked on while learning to cope. In great detail, Alisa provides useful health-related information, tips on eating out, how to prepare a dairy-free pantry and an expansive chapter on dairy substitutes.

But as a vegan who's already pretty facile with this information, my favorite part of the book is – you guessed it – the recipes – more than 225 of them –and cooking tips from Alisa as well as from some of our favorite blogland vegans, including Dreena Burton, Hannah Kaminsky, Julie Hanson and countless other popular vegan cooking divas. It's worth the price for the recipes alone. So check out Alisa's book. You won't be sorry – or hungry!

On a personal note, I must admit that after a year-plus of focusing on recipes for my upcoming cookbook, it sure felt nice to delve into the culinary world of another vegan, if only for one post. However...

Chickpea-Chili Burgers

...My cookbook deadline still beckons. Here's my latest creation: Chickpea-Chili Burgers. Slightly sweet, slightly spicy, they're not your mamma's veggie burger. They're great served with a bun and all the fixins', but I prefer them naked, topped with a "fig leaf" of Vegenaise and roasted red peppers.

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ciao, chow and meow :: a photo essay 

Tuesday, January 06, 2009 - Posted by urban vegan at 9:38 AM
Happy New Year! Welcome to the new blog.

Sorry it's been awhile. Between juggling my personal life, work, an impending cookbook deadline, and caring for Buttons, I haven't had time to blog. But I have made time to churn out and retest recipes for my upcoming cookbook. Yesterday, I created Porcini Ravioli using the new Italian Ravioli Mold that Santa brought me.


Here they are, all gussied up with marinara sauce. Making ravioli is seriously addictive.


Sunchoke salad with red peppers and black olives.


Creme Brulée. So rich!


Lunch Muffins

Buttons Update

Buttons has had an extremely traumatic time transitioning from the gutter to luxe loft living. For the entire 2 weeks she was sequestered in the bathroom, she cowered in the corner. She wouldn't respond to anything: toys, treats, Feliway spray, catnip, Rescue Remedy, reiki, etc. She was just plain terrified and completely shut down. Nevertheless, Bossa Nova and Pablo were anxious to meet their new pal.


I talked to several experts about next steps. Temporarily crating Buttons and moving her to the living room seemed like the best option. My friend, Karen, kindly lent me a crate. [Rufus, her dog, was thrilled to see it go!] At first, Buttons did what she did in the bathroom: hid, or tried to.


Eventually, she worked up enough nerve to turn around and face us. We determined that her "demi-ear" is not the result of frostbite, but rather spaying. When vets fix ferals, they usually make very prominent ear ticks that are easy for human caretakers to spot.


Happily, Buttons now feels comfortable enough to eat and groom herself in front of us, as you can see here – a huge breakthrough! Pablo desperately wants to be friends. He and Buttons play footsie through the grates. They've definitely bonded. Bossa Nova, on the other hand, throws hissy fits and swats Pablo when he spends too much time with Buttons [jealous!].


I've been handling Buttons in 15-minute increments, twice a day, to get her used to me. She doesn't exactly love it yet, but yesterday as I scratched her, she rubbed her head into my hand as if to say, "A little to the left, please." To be honest, Buttons had been so miserable and terrified here, that I was inches away from re-releasing her outdoors. I just felt that she was tortured here and thought she would be happier. But now that she's starting to settle in, slowly but surely, I'm so glad I didn't.

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